MerDer Untitled as of yet
by McDempseyFan
Summary: Meredith gets into an accident days after asking Derek to slow down... My first FanFic so please be kind :
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Meredith was driving into work and running late. She was speeding a little, down the residential streets of Seattle. Since she had just talked to her husband about his speeding problem, this made her feel a little bit like a hypocrite. However he had been going 125mph on the highway not 40mph in a 30 zone. Plus he'd gotten himself thrown in jail multiple times. SHe doubted she'd end up in jail for going a little over the speed limit.  
Her pager went off and she checked the screen quickly smiling as she saw it was the very man she was thinking of. She was on Derek's service this week which meant she really didn't need to worry too much about getting to work a little late, however she was now more then just a little late. Even her own husband may get mad at her for being almost a half hour late. She reached for her phone, looking away from the road for a split second. That was all the time it took for her to not notice a car run through the red light at the intersection in front of her and hit her side of the car in a T-Bone. After the car settled she had time to realize she was upside down, hear her pager go off again and someones scream before the world went dark.

Derek Shepherd tried paging his wife for the 3rd time. She was on his service this week and he had a surgery that, though it wasn't emergent, he thought was pretty interesting. He knew Meredith should have been at the hospital 45 mins ago. But she wasn't answering her pages. He tried to think if he'd done something to get her to try to avoid him but couldn't think of anything. As he went in search of her best friend he smiled remembering this morning when he'd left her in their nice warm bed.  
He finished dressing in his blue button down shirt and black dress slacks and walked to the bed leaning over to kiss her softly on the lips whispering, "Goodbye, see you later" to her sleeping form. As he pulled away her hand snaked up and pulled him closer for a longer deeper kiss. He laughed kissing her back. He tried to pull away again but she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. "Meredith I'm going to be late!" He laughed again.  
"So?" She said kissing him again.  
He shook his head kissing her deeply before getting up quickly, avoiding her grasp.  
"I'll see you later. Remember you're on my service this week, so we'll be spending a lot of time together... maybe even a little bit in an on-call room," He winked at her smiling from the doorway now as her pout turned to a smile too. Then he walked out of their bedroom and headed to work.  
He finally found Cristina talking to Teddy at the nurses station.  
"Cristina! Have you seen Meredith?" He called out.  
"No she wasn't here yet when I got here. Isn't she on your service this week?" "Yes but she's not answering my pages." He started to worry.  
"What'd you do this time McDreamy?" Cristina asked sarcastically.  
"Nothing," Derek said defensively, "We've been fine, since she told me..." He glanced at Teddy who was watching intently, "Since she told me... anyway I didn't do anything. I'm starting to worry now Cristina, she's almost an hour late, and that's not Meredith."  
"You're right that's definitely not like her. I'll try calling her... maybe you did something stupid and you don't even know it. Typical McDreamy." She shook her head pulling out her phone.  
Derek just ignored her, waiting.  
"McDreamy?" Teddy asked out of the blue, Derek barely even registering that she'd said anything. "I'm sorry what?" He turned his head to look at her.  
"Cristina called you McDreamy. I was just curious. I've never heard... Why McDreamy?"  
"Well umm, it's kind of a long..." Derek stopped talking as Cristina started talking.  
"Hey Mer it's Cris. Your Post-It is wondering where you are since you're on his service and I'm sure he has an empty on-call room for you booked. Anyway call me when you get this. Bye," She hung up and looked at Derek. "She's not answering, I wonder where she is."  
Derek ran a hand through his hair racking his brain trying to think of where she could be.  
"So, McDreamy?" Teddy said again.  
"Oh it's really a long story and..." Derek tried to brush it off.  
"Oh shut up McDreamy it's not a long story," Cristina cut him off and turned to Teddy, "When they first started seeing each other and Meredith was all mooning over him and worrying about whether she should date an attending or not and Shepherd was trying to convince her to I dubbed him McDreamy, I mean look at him" Cris and Teddy both turned to look Derek, who was now leaning against the nurses station, up and down. "Plus he obviously had a way with words to get Meredith to cave and date her boss."  
"So you're the one I should blame for all these years of ribbing about that nickname?" Derek asked interrupting her, "I never knew it was you that started that whole McNickname. Did you nickname Mark too?"  
"Oh no that was," Cristina started.  
"Mark has a nickname too?" Teddy asked, "Why haven't I heard these nicknames?"  
"Oh yes Mark definitely has a nickname. And you haven't heard them probably because they just aren't used as much anymore. Though every once in a while they do something and it sparks a new wave of it. Like when McDreamy proposed in the elevator. Oh that was definitely a spark that got the McDreamy nickname going again."  
"So what's Mark's nickname?" Teddy asked.  
"McSteamy." Cristina said smirking.  
"Who came up with that if it wasn't you?" Derek asked again, "Was it Stevens?"  
"No it was actually Meredith, right after you'd punched him the first time, and he was suturing his own face. She asked one of us to get x-rays for him since she didn't think it would be right for her to take him. And so McSteamy was born."  
"Meredith named him McSteamy?"  
"You punched Mark? More then once?" Derek and Teddy spoke at the same time and Cristina laughed.  
"That's a long story too," Derek said in avoidance. "Oh now you don't wanna talk?" Cristina said, "Mark showed up while Shepherd was still married to Addison. The first thing he did when he got here was flirt with Meredith. So Shepherd punched him."  
"But you were married to Addison. Why would you care if anyone flirted with Grey?" Teddy asked confused.  
"Do you not listen to any gossip whatsoever?" Cristina asked as Derek shifted his feet, feeling more and more uncomfortable.  
"No not really." Teddy said.  
"So you haven't heard anything of the golden couple's story?" "Cristina..." Derek groaned.  
"Oh quiet McDreamy you know anyone in this hospital would tell her their version if she asked. Why not let her get it from some one who knows the story well?"  
Derek just shook his head, then sighed in relief as his pager went off. He looked down at it and frowned at the unfamiliar number. He picked up the phone at the nurses desk as Cristina began telling Teddy basically the story of his life in Seattle starting with his one night stand with Meredith. Though he showed he was annoyed with her on the outside he smiled on the inside as he listened to the story of he and his wife's rocky beginnings until someone picked up the phone on the other line. "Seattle Presbyterian Hospital, how may I help you?" He heard a very cheerful voice say.  
"Um hi my name is Dr. Derek Shepherd. I just received a page from this number."  
"Oh," He heard the lady gasp slightly, "Just a moment Dr. let me transfer you,"  
"But," Before he could say anything the line transferred to that annoying music you hear when you're put on hold. He sighed and began listening to Cristina again.  
"So they were doing a clinical trial, and Derek was dating Rose, and Meredith was seeing Dr. Wyatt, and they been told they could only do one more or they were going to be shut down. Meredith convinced Shepherd to do two more surgeries in one day and they finally got it right. Then she built him a house of candles," Derek smiled remembering her ramble of being extraordinary together and then their kiss, "And they got back together and started living together and," "Why a house of candles?" Teddy asked. Apparently she'd been quite interested in their lives but had never been interested enough to ask someone.  
While Cristina went on to explain the trailer and the cliff and the rest of their story someone came back on the line.  
"Dr. Derek Shepherd?" A gentleman's voice said.  
"Yes I'm Dr. Shepherd. Do you guys need a neurosurgeon or something?" Derek asked.  
"Um no why would we need a neurosurgeon?" The gentlemen asked.  
"Well you just paged your rivals Head of Neuro-Surgery I figured you needed me for a case?" Derek asked confused now.  
"Oh no Dr. we did page because of an emergency but its not neuro related." "Well then why did you..." Derek broke off realizing the possibility of why they would be calling him for an emergency.  
"We had a MVC come in about 10 mins ago and the young lady had your name in her wallet. Her phone was broken so your number was the only one we could use to contact somebody to let them know she was in an accident."  
Derek's heart sped up and his lungs seemed to refuse to work and he leaned heavily on the nurses station. Cristina stopped talking and both her and Teddy turned to him.  
"Do... do you know... who she is?" Derek barely got out, praying it was just a patient of his and not...  
"Yes Dr. she had her hospital ID in her car. Her name is Meredith Grey"  
"Oh my god..." Derek got out as he layed his forehead on the nurses station, "Is... how is... is she ok?" "Sir are you ok?" the man said hearing the change in Derek's voice.  
"Tell me she's ok," He was a little more forceful this time.  
"I'm sorry Dr. I can't give out personal information without the patients consent."  
"I'm her husband!" Derek yelled into the phone and now both Cristina and Teddy's expressions showed surprise and concern, "Tell me she's ok, I'm her husband you can talk to me." "I'm sorry Dr. I can't give you personal information. She didn't have a ring on and her last name isn't the same as yours. There's no indication that she's married that we can tell." "I am her husband! Just because she doesn't wear a ring or have my last name doesn't mean we aren't married. You have to tell me she's ok!"  
"I'm sorry.."  
"Don't tell me you're sorry!" Derek cut him off, "If you won't tell me what her injuries are please just tell me she's ok, that she'll be ok, please!" Derek started to sound desperate.  
The man hesitated but finally said, "She should be fine Dr."  
Derek hung up as soon as he heard she would be ok and started running for his office to get his keys.  
"Derek!" Cristina yelled running after him, "Where are you going?"  
"Seattle Pres. Meredith was in an accident and they wont tell me what happened because they don't think I'm her husband." Derek said as he reached his office grabbed his keys and started off for his car. "Derek wait, I'll drive." Cristina grabbed his keys from his hand.  
"Cristina!" Derek made an unsuccessful grab for them.  
"You are in no shape to drive and you'd probably speed anyway. And! Meredith would kill me if she found out I let you drive in this state and you ended up in an accident too"  
Derek stared for about two seconds before moving to the passenger side and getting in. Teddy came running up and got in the back seat as and Derek turned around, looking at her confused.  
"Seattle Pres just paged me saying they needed a consult for an MVC."  
Derek's eyes got big and his breath caught again. Teddy was amazed with the transformation of this man and the way all of his emotions were right there on his face. "I don't know if its for her. They just said it was a MVC. It could be someone else.  
Derek just turned around and stared out the window. Why did this have to happen to them? Hadn't they been through enough already?  
The rest of the trip was silent and as they pulled up to the emergency doors the car was still rolling to a stop when Derek jumped out and ran through the doors still dressed in his scrubs. He ran up to the nurses station directly in front of him. And the nurse sitting there looked up at him startled as his hands slammed on the counter.  
"I need to know where Meredith Grey is? I was told she was brought here after an accident."  
"And who are you?" The nurse asked looking at him curiously in his scrubs.  
"I'm her..."  
"Doctor," Cristina cut him off sending him a look, "This is Dr Derek Shepherd and Dr Teddy Altman. Dr. Shepherd is a neurosurgeon and Dr Altman a CardioThoracic Surgeon. Dr. Altman was paged for a consult on a MVC and decided to bring Dr Shepherd along thinking he may be needed as well."  
"And you are..." The nurse questioned.  
"A resident at Seattle Grace here to learn from Dr. Altman," Cristina smiled.  
The nurse looked at them skeptically but shrugged as her phone started to ring. "Ms. Grey is in Trauma Room 2, right over there," The nurse gestured to their right.  
Derek took off almost at a run until he got to the room where the blinds were open and he could see Meredith laying on a hospital bed. He slid to a stop as he stared at his wife lying there helpless and broken. He could see a gash on her forehead and a Dr was looking at her wrist. Her top had been cut open and she was just in her bra. He noticed the defibrillator sitting next to a Dr and his breath stopped yet again. Until he saw on a monitor that though her heartbeat wasn't good it was still there. Cristina and Teddy finally caught up with him and shook him out of his daze. They walked to the door and Teddy walked in first. A couple of the Drs glanced up.  
"I'm Dr Altman, I was paged for an MVC?" Teddy asked calmly staring at the monitors already seeing a problem.  
"Finally," One Dr said. "She's been going in and out of V-Fib and we're not sure why. Our Head of CT isn't here and I've never seen this so we decided to call over to Seattle Grace for some help. We're able to stable her for about ten minutes at a time and then she goes into V-Fib again."  
Teddy walks over and listens to Meredith's heart and then feel around her chest. "She has a broken rib that keeps press against her heart." Teddy says and hears Derek gasp behind her.  
"Who's this?" The Dr that seems to be in charge asks. When Derek doesn't answer Teddy steps in.  
"This is my colleague Dr Shepherd. He's a neurosurgeon. I figured MVC you may need his help to."  
"Shepherd?" One of what seem to be the interns asks, "the Shepherd Method Shepherd?"  
"Um," Derek clears his throat still having troubles breathing but starting to become aware of his surrounds besides just Meredith on a hospital bed, "Ya that Shepherd"  
"Wow you're like a legend in the neuro world," the intern grins like he's meeting a rockstar.  
"Thank you Dr Stratton," the Dr at Meredith's head says sarcastically, "And thank you Dr Shepherd for your concern in our needs for a neurosurgeon but I feel quite capable of handling a slight concussion."  
Derek recognizes the voice and focuses on the Dr.  
"Oh, Dr Lewiston. I hadn't realized you lived in Seattle now," Derek said still coming out of his daze.  
"You guys know each other?" Teddy asked trying to get Derek fully aware as she continued to listen to Mer's heart to make sure there weren't any other problems besides the broken rib which though was serious if unknown, was easily monitored and fixed.  
"We went to college together." Dr Lewiston said with a bit of a sneer. Derek shook his head still unsure after all these years why the man disliked him so much. They'd barely known each other in college. The only real reason they got to know each other was that they'd both been interested in neuro and had taken many classes together but had never become friends. Mostly because Derek didn't like the way the man operated. He was more concerned with his image then the medicine it seemed in college. And from what Derek had heard of him as a Dr that hadn't changed. Meredith's body started to shake pulling Derek out of his thoughts and sending his heart racing again.  
"She's seizing!" Teddy called out, "I thought you said she only had a concussion?" She yelled at Lewiston as she held Mer down trying to keep her chest still as possible to prevent the rib from pressing any further into her heart.  
"There was no indication for anything else," Lewiston said as Mer finally stopped seizing.  
"Except maybe the fact that she was in a car accident!" Derek yelled at him and moved to nudge him out of the way as he began to examine her himself.  
"Derek," Teddy said in a low voice.  
"I'm going to examine her since obviously he's incapable," Lewiston started to speak but Cristina nudged him out of the way too and gave him a look.  
"Shouldn't you be wearing gloves?" He decided to say instead.  
Derek just glared at him for a second before returning to Mer as he ran his fingers over her scalp. Teddy pushed an area on Mer's side and her heart rate began to return to normal. "I think that should help her heart but I'd like to get some tests done." She said and glanced up at Derek, who's fingers now were covered in Mer's blood as he felt around her forehead.  
"Dr. Shepherd?" Teddy tried to get his attention and succeeded when he looked up at her.  
"She has a slight compressed skull fracture that shouldn't be too severe but I think she needs some brain scans done too." He whispered.  
Teddy looked around at the group of interns just standing there.  
"Well? Is anyone going to get the scans and tests? Don't all jump at once." As the intern who'd recognized Derek's name, jumped forward for the chart and the tests and scans they'd written down Derek held onto his tight for a second to get the intern to look up at him.  
"You better take excellent care of her. If anything happens to her so help me..."  
"Derek!" Teddy cut him off again and he let go and the intern moved to push Mer's bed. Derek ran his hand over her hair softly as she was pushed out the door and whispered inaudibly "I love you." Cristina the closest to him was the only one who heard and looked at him. She put a hand on his arm and when Mer was out of sight he looked at her. "She knows." Cris whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

Cristina and Teddy were sitting in Seattle Presbyterians cafeteria while Derek paced next to their table as they waited for the test results and word that Mer was back in a room.  
"Shepherd, she's going to be fine, sit down," Teddy said.  
Derek didn't even hear her voice as he continued to pace thinking of all the complications a depressed skull fracture can bring with it.  
"Derek," Teddy said louder and put a hand on his arm.  
Derek stopped and looked at her.  
"She's going to be OK, just sit down for a little bit."  
Derek took a deep breath and ran a hand through his already tousled hair, then dropped into a chair between Teddy and Cris, His foot began tapping as his nervous energy couldn't be stilled. Teddy put a hand on his thigh to stop the movement,  
"Derek look at me," teddy whispered in a calming voice. Derek turned his head towards her and his worried blue eyes bore into her , breaking her heart as she could see the pain he was in.  
"It will be OK. We'll get the tests and she'll be OK."  
"But what..." Derek started.  
"Ah," Teddy stopped him, "She'll be OK, She looked OK when we saw her and if there's any problems we'll fix them and she'll be fine." Teddy put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it feeling the tension in him. She glanced at Cristina who shrugged.  
Derek couldn't sit still and stood up again and started pacing.  
"I've never seen him like this before," Teddy said to Cris knowing Derek wasn't paying attention to her.  
"I have," Cris murmured, "When she almost drowned he was like this too. Only he cried more then. But that could be because she was basically when he got her out of the sound. He had to do CPR on her then was thrown out of the trauma room once he got her here, and he couldn't help at all. Plus her mother was here and he was there when her mother died that day too."  
"That was the ferry thing right?" Teddy asked recalling the story Cris had told her earlier.  
Cris nodded, "But it's a ferryboat to them, don't get caught just calling it a ferry, they'll correct you."  
Teddy just nodded her head and glanced over as Lewiston walked into the cafeteria, heading for them. Derek noticed too and rushed over to him.  
"How's it look? Is there any bleeding in her brain? Is her heart OK? Did the rib..." Derek stopped his rapid fire questions when he felt Teddy's hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and nodded his head slightly to her understanding he was supposed to be acting as her Dr here. Lewiston gave him a funny look then turned to Teddy dismissing Derek.  
"May we talk in private?" He asked her.  
Before Derek could say anything Teddy squeezed her hand a little on his shoulder.  
"Dr Lewiston you may speak freely here, we're all Dr's."  
"I'm aware of that, however I was told that Dr Shepherd called earlier trying to get information on the patient..."  
"Her name is Meredith Grey," Derek bit out, not wanting Lewiston referring to her as just a patient. Lewiston cleared his throat after sparing Derek a glance and continued.  
"on Meredith Grey, and claimed he was her husband." Lewiston finished.  
"That's because I am...!" Derek began loudly.  
"Dr. Lewiston," Teddy cut Derek off yet again, "you were fine with Dr Shepherd helping on this case after you missed a very important diagnosis, now you're saying you won't let the Dr who discovered it know anymore information on the patient, Dr Grey," Teddy glanced at Derek in warning to let her do the talking.  
"Not when the Dr is claiming to be her husband, it's against hospital policy to allow family members to treat one another."  
"Did your hospital not deny Dr Shepherd information on Meredith Grey on the basis that there was no indication on the fact that they were indeed married?"  
"Well yes, but,"  
"Then I'm under the impression your hospital doesn't view these two as family members is that not correct,"  
"Well there's no indication that,"  
"If there's no indication then why not tell the Dr, who is one of the foremost neurosurgeons in this country and I'm very sure is more qualified then you in all areas of medicine let alone just neuro, why not let him in on the case and help in any way he can."  
Lewiston mumbled a few unintelligible sentenced before Teddy continued.  
"All right then, how is Meredith Grey doing?" They all held their breath with out even realizing it while they waited for Lewiston to answer.  
"She's doing just fine. Her heart is doing excellent with no signs of serious damage that needs surgery. Her rib is staying where its supposed to. She has a broken wrist that was first overlooked due to her other injuries. The only thing that concerns me at the moment is that there's a very small bleed at the depressed skull fracture," he paused and glanced at Derek after hearing his soft groan, "As you know Dr Shepherd in most cases this resolves itself which is why I'm only concerned and not worried. We'll monitor the bleed for a few hours to make sure it doesn't get worse and go from there. And the bleed is most likely the reason Dr Grey still hasn't woken up yet."  
Derek held his hand out for the scans Lewiston was holding. The Dr had already missed one thing, Derek wasn't going to let anything else slip by. He studied the scans until he was convinced there were no other bleeds. He also checked the xrays and when he was satisfied that they hadn't missed anything gave the scans back.  
"Why hasn't her wrist been dealt with yet?" He asked quietly trying to keep his composure.  
"Our ortho surgeon is in surgery at the moment." Lewiston said.  
"And none of your residents are capable of dealing with a cast?" Derek's voice showed a little edge now. "You know what never mind, I'll call our ortho surgeon and see if she can deal with it. In fact as soon as she's awake and stable enough we will be moving her to Seattle Grace where she will receive what I am sure will be 100% better care then this hospital. What room is she in?" Derek finished barely looking at Lewiston. When Lewiston told them the room she was in and gave them directions Derek headed off without another word to his colleague.

Derek was sitting next to Mer's bed waiting for her to wake up. It was one of the times he was actually sitting down. In the past 20 minutes he'd continuously sat down and immediately stood up to pace around Meredith's bed, running his hand through his hair in worry. Teddy had taken a few calls from SGMW and would leave the room to take them but at the moment was sitting in one of the extra chairs an intern had brought to the room. Cristina sat next to her alternating from fiddling with her phone to staring at Meredith. Derek had gotten two phone calls in the 20 minutes. One from Mark and one from Lexie, each about 5 minutes apart. Mark had just gotten out of a surgery and heard, saying he would come over as soon as he cleaned up and changed. Lexie, who'd called about two minutes before Mark, had also been in surgery with Owen Hunt. She had a to finish out her shift and would be over in a couple hours if they hadn't transferred Mer over to SGMW. She had said she would tell Callie about the broken arm an see if she could come check it out. WHen Mark had called he told Derek he was bringing Callie with him.  
All the support Meredith was getting reminded Derek of a conversation they'd had before Meredith had finally given in and agreed to date him The were treating a rape victim who had't woken up from a coma and had no family there to support her. Derek had stayed the night with her and when Meredith had found him the next morning she'd asked him why he'd stayed. He explained that his family would all be there if he was in the same situation. Mer had said she wouldn't have anyone there for her. At the time Derek had asked about her mother and Mer had agreed that she had her mother. Looking back he realized that she really wouldn't have had anyone there for her. Now she had tons of family even if only one of them were actually blood related.  
As he smiled thinking of their extended family, he felt her hand move in his. He stilled wondering if he was imagining it. When he felt it move again he stood up quickly, keeping her hand in his. His other hand moved to her face and he cupped her chin, running his thumb across her cheek softly.  
"Meredith," he whispered. She moved her hand again but nothing else.  
Cristina and Teddy both sat up straighter watching.

Meredith heard a voice though it sounded as if it was in the distance. It sounded familiar and she tried to move towards it in the darkness. She heard it again, clearer this time, and the voice started to conjure up an image in her head. When the voice came again she heard her name and a pair of blue eyes swam to her mind. Dark curly hair and a gorgeous smile that made her feel safe formed around the eyes as she heard her name yet again. She tried to place a name to the face and struggled to open her eyes. She knew the voice belonged to an important person in her life and when she heard her name one more time it finally connected.  
"Der..." She mumbled out but was only successful in moaning softly as she continued her struggle to open her eyes.

Derek heard a noise come from Mer and he smiled in relief.  
"Mer, I'm right here. Wake up for me, I love you," he whispered to her and kissed her forehead softly.

When Meredith hears the voice say "I love you" with so much meaning she forces her eyes to open and she immediately sees the blue eyes she'd seen in her mind. Though they were obviously filled with worry they still made her feel safe.  
"Ouch" she whispers as her body lets her feel the aches and pains she subjected it to.  
Derek chuckles in relief as his wife finally speaks coherently.  
"Hey, welcome back," he whispers to her, kissing her forehead again.  
"Derek," she says more clearly this time as his eyes come more into focus as does the rest of his face.  
"I'm here Mer, I love you" he says to her smiling down at her.  
She moans and tries to lift her broken wrist, causing her to moan louder in pain.  
"Don't move Mer, you're pretty broken right now. If you need anything just ask me," He runs his hand over her hair, pushing a strand out of her eyes.  
She tries to speak again but nothing comes out.  
"It's ok take it slowly," Derek whispers.  
"Kiss... me," she says softly, repeating his request from when he'd been shot.  
He immediately complies and presses his lips softly to hers. He pulled back still smiling and his hand still cupping her face.  
She tried to look around and didn't recognize the room. She began to look a little confused.  
"Where?" She barely gets out.  
"You're at Seattle Presbyterian. The ambulance brought you here because it was closer. We're going to have you transferred to SGMW as soon as we get a cast on your arm."  
Mer looked around again and saw Cristina.  
"Cristina," as soon as the word was out of her mouth Cristina was standing next to her on the opposite side of the bed as Derek.  
"Hey, you know if you wanted to be at SP so bad you could've just put in a transfer, you didn't need to get into and accident, " Cristina said jokingly.  
Mer chuckled a little then winced in pain.  
"My head hurts,"  
"You have a concussion and a small compressed skull fracture," Derek explained. "However I have it on good authority you have the very best doctor working on your case and monitoring you closely."  
"What's his name? Have I heard of him?" Mer asked thinking he was talking about someone at SP.  
Cristina laughed and Derek gave her a glare.  
"Well you might know him being as you claim to be married to him," Cristina said.  
Mer looked confused.  
"You're my doctor," She looked at Derek, "Why are they letting you treat me?"  
"Am I not a good enough doctor for you?" Derek said jokingly.  
Mer was feeling a little stronger so she was able to talk a little better as well.  
"No, it's just usually policy is that you can't treat family. I would think SP would have the same policy and wouldn't let my husband treat me." Derek smiled when she said husband. Even still he got a kick out of it every time she called him her husband.  
"They didn't believe we were married since you don't share my last name and you had no ring on your finger," he explained, "Then when I noticed the neuro guy here missed something I asked to be let on your case. They had some qualms since I had insisted I was your husband but Dr Altman got them to agree since they hadn't been willing to give me information since they didn't believe I was your husband then they might as well let me treat you."  
Meredith just nodded her head in understanding. Then looked at Teddy.  
"Did I have heart problems?" She asked, wondering why the CT surgeon was there.  
Teddy stood up then as well and explained to her what had happened and why they'd called Teddy for help.  
"It worked out well since Shepherd and Yang were already on there way over for you." She said.  
Just then there was a knock on the door. Derek called for them to come in and Mark and Callie walked in.  
"You're awake," Mark smiled. "You gave us a scare Big Grey."  
Meredith looked confused again.  
"Do I have burns somewhere?" She asked, not bothering to ask about Callie since she knew she had a broken wrist at the very least.  
"No Mer you don't have any burns," Derek said softly, understanding that Meredith didn't realize mark was there to support her.  
"Why is Mark here then?" She asked.  
"Big Grey, I'm here to make sure you're ok," Mark said, when she still looked confused he went on to explain, "You are now my sister-in-law for all intense and purposes, so if you get into an accident I worry and show up to make sure you're ok and to see if you or Derek need anything since I know Derek won't want to leave your side."  
Meredith just nodded again still not understanding why he would be there. She looked at Derek and the look was enough to tell him she wasn't completely understanding. Derek smiled at her then kissed her again.  
"Remember that rape victim we had when you first started your internship? The one that wouldn't wake up?"  
Meredith thought back and remembered Derek staying the night with her and nodded.  
"Remember the conversation we had of why I stayed with her? This is why Mark is here, and Cristina, and Callie, and Lexie is on her way and Owen will be too, soon, if the Chief didn't have to work he'd be here too, and I'm guessing even Teddy is still staying here instead of heading back to SGMW. And I'm here, though that's a given since I'm your husband," He smiled "We're your family Meredith. When someone is hurt family gathers together to support that person. I know you don't have a lot of experience with family but we're here to teach you. We are your family." Derek knew she was understanding now because she got a small smile on her face that he knew she got when she was discovering something she hadn't had as a child. He put his hand in hers again, rubbing his thumb over it. Callie moved forward to check out her wrist.  
"Do you have the X-rays for her?" She asked Derek, who nodded and got them for her. "Oh ya that's a bad break in your wrist. But I don't see any reason you'll need surgery on it."  
"What about for future surgeries?" Derek asked, just now realizing that the break could effect her career.  
"She should be fine to operate as soon as its healed. Its bad but it's a clean break too and should heal just fine."  
Meredith nodded relieved, she hadn't thought of that possibility either until Derek had brought it up.  
"So I'll go hunt up supplies for your cast." Callie said and walked out. 


	3. Chapter 3

After Callie left, Derek did a quick neuro exam again on Mer just to check, then kissed her on the forehead. He put his hand on her cheek and rubbed it with his thumb. He gave her his McDreamy smile when she looked up at him.  
"So do you have to use your skills on me?" She asked with a small smile, which caused Derek to chuckle. He made that "mmm" sound that she loved and found so cute.  
"No I wont at the moment. You look great," Derek smiled kissing her forehead again.  
"Does that mean I can go home?" She asked hopefully.  
"Mer, you need to stay in the hospital for at least a day so we can keep an eye on you. So we'll transfer you to SGMW after you get a cast on your wrist."  
"Derek, I want to go home," Mer pleaded, "I don't want to go to the hospital like this and have everybody staring and talking."  
"Mer we need to monitor you over night," He said softly though understanding her want to not be stared at in their hospital.  
"Derek," Mer huffed and then glanced over his shoulder as a man entered her room. Derek saw her eyes shift and turned to see Dr. Lewiston standing in the doorway.  
"There's not much you can say to convince a neurosurgeon to let you go home after what you went through Miss Grey," Lewiston said, "As I'm sure Dr. Shepherd has told you we need to hold you over night and monitor you."  
"You mean here at Seattle Pres?" Mer asked, glancing at Derek who was shaking his head before turning back to Lewiston. "I'm sorry who are you?" Mer asked a little confused by the Dr's presence.  
"I'm your Dr., Dr. James Lewiston." He walked over and held out his hand. Mer looked at his hand, glanced at Derek then back at Lewiston before hesitantly shaking his hand.  
"I thought Dr. Shepherd was my Dr.?"  
"I am your Dr.," Derek glared at Lewiston, "Dr. Lewiston was the first neuro guy on your case before I got here, which may be why there's a mix-up."  
"No Dr. Shepherd there's no mix-up, I'm the Neurosurgeon on call, and you have no privileges in this hospital."  
"Then why has he been treating me? And where have you been?"  
"Dr. Shepherd showed up with Dr Altman and insisted on taking over. I've been helping other patients until you woke up."  
"Dr. Lewiston, from what I was told, Dr. Shepherd took over because you missed a part of my diagnosis, is that not correct?"  
"Well, I..." Lewiston fumbled, "Either way you're at Seattle Pres. and I am the neuro attending. So it's my call whether to hold you or let you go. And given the accident and injuries you've incurred, I feel its in your best interest to stay here over night and around the clock care and monitoring."  
"Well Dr. Lewiston as I'm a surgical resident at SGMW as I'm sure you know so I understand why you would like for me to stay. However I have a different opinion and suggestion. First of all, I would like you to be removed as my doctor and would prefer one of these three to be my doctor, preferably Dr. Shepherd as he's the most knowledgeable in the field. Secondly, what you apparently are unaware of and what Dr. Shepherd has seem to forgotten since your hospital doesn't recognize, is the fact that my husband is a world renown neurosurgeon," At this Derek smiled, Cristina rolled her eyes and Lewiston's eyes widened, "He's one of the top 20 neuro surgeons in the world and the head of the neuro department at SGMW. So if I were to stay at any hospital for my neurological issues, it definitely would not be at this one where the head of the department isn't even ranked in the top 50 and the attending can't even diagnose a simple skull fracture. Plus if I were to go home with my husband I would get much better care then at this hospital and probably even better care then at SGMW since my husband would probably get pulled away to some emergency. So, in my opinion and I'm sure my husbands opinion now that he understands the alternative, it would be in my best interest for me to be allowed to go home," She paused to let it sink in to Lewiston then turned her head to Derek who was now grinning, "What do you think Dr. Shepherd?" Mer said sweetly completely dismissing Dr Lewiston in a way that would've made her dead mommy proud.  
Derek shook his head at her smiling slightly, "Do you really expect me to say no to that?"  
"No, not really," Mer tilted her head smiling back at him.  
"You guys make me want to vomit sometimes," Cristina said shaking her head, "I'm going to go help Callie," She said and walked out of the room.  
"I really have to advise you against this decision," Lewiston said.  
"Lewiston, please leave, the patient has asked for me to be her Dr. You're no longer needed here." Derek said turning to him.  
"But,"  
"Would you like me to go to you Chief of Surgery and explain why Dr Grey doesn't want you as her Dr. anymore?"  
"Uh, no, I'll just... go now." He stumbled quickly out of the room.  
Derek shook his head and turned back to Mer.  
"I'm going to go call SGMW and check to..." Teddy started but realized she wasn't being heard. She shrugged and just left the room.  
"Your husband sounds like a pretty talented guy," Derek said smirking, "You should introduce me to him."  
"Oh I'm sure you'd like him," Mer giggled, "But I don't think he'd like you very much."  
"Mmm?" He said again reminding Mer of why she loved that sound that could say so much. Derek was now smiling down at her giving her the McDreamy smile and tilting his head just so.  
"He definitely wouldn't like you."  
"Why is that?" Derek brushed a hair from her forehead.  
"He can get pretty jealous and he wouldn't like the way you're looking at me right now." She said smiling back at him.  
"And how am I looking at you?"  
"Like you've seen me naked," She giggled.  
"You know someone else said that to me once,"  
"Oh yea? Whatever happened to that person?"  
"She's my wife now,"  
"Oh you're married?"  
"Mmmhmmm," Again with that sound.  
"How would your wife feel about you looking at me the way you are?"  
"Well I don't think she'd mind too much," Derek laughed and leaned down kissing her deeply. Mer wrapped her good arm around his neck and then slid her fingers through his thick hair.  
"Jeez we leave you alone for two minutes and you're all over each other," Cristina said walking into the room ahead of Callie. Mer and Der slowly broke apart smiling at each other. Derek kissed her lips one more time before pulling away.  
Callie waited a moment before stepping up to the bed.  
"All right lets get you in a cast," She said pulling up a stool and setting her supplies on the bed next to Mer. 


	4. Chapter 4

After Callie finished with Mer's cast Derek had her get a few more brain scans to make sure there was no new bleeding. When the scans came back he was relieved to see that the bleed was resolving itself. He walked back into Meredith's room and noticed two more additions to Mer's visitors. Alex was now there as well as Thatcher. Lexie and Owen had both showed up after Mer had returned from taking the scans. The hospital had tried to bring chairs for everyone but now Alex, Mark and Thatcher were standing against the wall at the foot of Meredith's bed.

Derek walked up to Mer kissing her forehead and smiling down at her.  
"The scans look good," he said, looking at her but letting everyone know. There was a collective sigh that went around the room.

"Of course they do," Cristina said sarcastically, "Mer has a hard head, everyone in this room knows that."

Everyone laughed and Mer just shook her head then looked at Derek.

"Does this mean that I can go home now?"

"You can. I already have a nurse getting the paper work together for you. I would've taken care of it but since the hospital doesn't acknowledge me as your husband you need to take care of that. Then we can go home. I called Richard and asked for the next three days off and he put you on temporary medical leave until you can come back. He also told me if I need anymore time to just let him know. So I did take care of what I could," he smiled down at her.

"This is why I married you" Mer said and pulled him down to her and kissed him deeply.

Derek laughed, "Are you still having some effects from the morphine?" he asked since generally she didn't do PDA's when this many people were in the room. They had given her some morphine for the pain and it was supposed to be wearing off by now but she sometimes would sound a little high every once in a while.

"Maybe," Mer grinned, "I think I'm gonna need more soon too 'cause my wrist is starting to hurt again," she pouted up at Derek the way a small child pouts up at their parents.

"We'll get you a prescription of pain meds but you can't go home if you're still on morphine." Derek said.

"OK then! No more morphine for me!" Mer said loudly making everyone laugh.

Derek shook his head smiling then turned to the others in the room.

"When did you guys get here," He asked Alex and Thatcher.

"I heard from a nurse and came over right after my shift," Alex explained.

"And Lexie called me and I came over when I could," Thatcher said, Derek smiled and nodded again happy they were both here for his wife.

"It's nice that you're all here," Mer said with a big grin on her face, "this is much better then my last morphine experience," she giggled.

Derek shook his head, "You don't even remember your last morphine experience," he said thinking back to when she'd had to have an appendectomy and Derek, Finn and George had all been in the same room.

"I do though," came a voice from the door.

"Bailey!" Mer yelled, "What are you doing here?" She said a little confused.

"Apparently one of my idiot interns decided to get run into by a car. I had to come make sure you weren't dead." Baily said walking in and looking around the room.

"What are you all doing in here? This is a patient room don't you think it's a little crowded in here?" She said in that Bailey tone that got people to do exactly what she wanted. Everyone except Derek jumped and mumbled a few words before they all shuffled out the door. While they were leaving Mer motioned for Derek to come down to her level again. he leaned over and she whispered loudly in his ear, "I have to go pee."

"Ok," Derek laughed and took a step back to let her mover her legs over the side of the bed. He stood there in case she had balance issues dut to the morphine. He was glad he did when she tried to stand up completely and pitched forward and he had to catch her.

"Whoa!" Mer said loudly as she gripped his biceps to regain her balance.

"Thanks," She smiled into his eyes, "You have pretty eyes, have I ever told you that?"

"No I don't believe you have, though during your last morphine bout you told me I was a good kisser along with two other men but since I'm the one that you married I'm ok with it," Derek chuckled.

She giggled and tried to shuffle her feet causing her to fall into Derek's chest and they wrapped their arms around each other, him giving her support and her taking it.

"I guess maybe I am your knight and shining whatever huh?" Der said with a smile as he held her arms to steady her.

"Maybe," She giggled again. She pushed back so she was holding his biceps again and he was holding her forearms. They stood there for a little while until she felt she was steady enough.

"Ready?" Derek asked softly. She nodded and he turned to put his arm around her waist to give her support. Bailey moved out of their way as they slowly made their way to the bathroom.

When they came back out ten minutes had passed and Bailey was sitting in a chair reading Mer's chart.

"Lewiston is an idiot," she said without looking up from the chart.

Derek chuckled as they made their way back to the bed.

"This is true," he said as they reached the bed and he helped her back into it.

"I talked to him when I first asked for the doctor assigned to you and he had no clue. Tried to tell me that the mistake he made was no big deal basically," she shook her head, "I wonder where he went to school because wherever it was better rethink its neuro program."

Meredith laughed at that.

"Whats so funny Grey?" Bailey asked.

"Oh nothing," Mer shrugged and looked at Derek who rolled his eyes.

"Shepherd?" Bailey asked.

"Dr. Lewiston and I both went to the same school is why my wife is so amused."

"Hmm, I guess you just slipped through randomly then, or maybe he slipped through unnoticed that he has no talent whatsoever, or you charmed all the teachers into only teaching you so you would be the best," Bailey rambled.

Derek smiled at the backwards complement. He slid a chair over next to the bed and the three of them sat there in comfortable silence waiting for the paper work. Thirty minutes later Mark and Alex walked in with Mark holding papers and Alex pushing a wheel chair.

"Here you go Big Grey," Mark handed Meredith the papers.

"Thank you Mark," Mer said as Derek handed her a pen.

After everything was signed Derek helped Mer out of the bed again, this time she was much more steady and Derek could tell the morphine had worn off for the most part. He helped her ease into the wheel chair and noticed her wince a little.

"We'll get you some pain pill soon Mer," Derek said softly to her as he pushed her out the door of the room, "I'll have Mark go down to the hospital pharmacy while we're getting you into the car OK?"

Mer just nodded as they reached the group of her family sitting in a waiting room near by. Though she was still a little confused at why they were all here she was happy they were. She'd never known what it was to have a family and all this support made her think of Derek's family. His youngest sister, who was the closest to them location wise had flown up just to see how he was doing. The two seemed to have some issues between them but she still had flown up to check on her big brother. Mer had never had anyone who would do that for her. Until now, she thought looking at each person.

"Thank you guys so much for coming," She said to them all, "It really means a lot to me."

They all smiled and nodded their heads in understanding, some of them understanding more then others but all knowing she was still new to the family deal.

"We'll keep you all updated on how she's doing," Derek said, "But I know she really wants to get home and doesn't want to be rude and leave you all," He said smiling down at her, "So we're going to go now, thanks again,"

They all said their good byes and Derek started to wheel Mer towards the elevators after Derek asked Mark to go get the pills. When they got into the elevator Derek moved to stand next to Mer with his hand on her shoulder. Mer reached up and put her good hand on his and looked up at him. He smiled down at her and she smiled back. They waited in the lobby until Mark came with medication and offered to sit with Mer while Derek brought the car to the front. Derek came back in and thanked Mark as they helped Mer into the car. Then Derek went around and climbed into the drivers seat and looked at Mer. Her face was bruised and she had a small cut on her cheek and a bandage on her head where the skull fracture had been. She looked pretty tore up but to him she was absolutely beautiful when she smiled at him and he was grateful she was alive.

"Let's go home" He said smiling back at her. They drove away as the sky was bright with oranges and reds from the setting sun.  



	5. Chapter 5

As they drove home, in a silence that wasn't at all awkward, fat rain drops began to fall on the windshield in true Seattle fashion. Soon the sound of raindrops pinging on the roof and the slap of wipers fill the car. A short while later, with still no words spoken between the couple, they drive up to the house.

Derek helps Mer out of the car, telling her to hurry into the house as the rain begins to soak them both. He gathers her things from teh back seat and heads inside. When he gets in the house, Mer is struggling with her coat, which has gotten caught on the cast on her wrist. He immediately sets her stuff down and helps her take it off.

"Do you want to go up to the bedroom or stay down here on the couch?" He asks softly as he runs his fingers through his hair to shake the rain off.

"The couch I think"

"Ok, I'm going to go change," Derek was still in his scrubs and Mer just notices this.

"Why are you in your scrubs?"

"I left the hospital so quickly and didn't think to ask anyone to bring me a change." He says softly, now running a hand through her hair and kisses her forehead.

"Hmm," She murmurs, smiling and closing her eyes as his lips touch her forehead.

"I'll be right back ok?" He says as pulls back.

She nods and kisses him quickly then heads to the living room as Derek heads upstairs. Mer settles down onto the couch sitting on the middle cushion and turns on the TV.

Derek stops at the doorway and leans on it. He changed into a Bowdoin tshirt and jeans. He looks in to see his wife was sitting in the center of the couch, her knees drawn up to her chest, her chin setting on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. He goes to the closet and grabs a blanket and walks back to the living room sitting down and throwing the blanket over both of them. Mer smiles over at him as he wraps his arms around her and pulls her close to him and she snuggles into his warmth.

"Is this ok or do you want to lay down?" Derek whispers into her hair a few minutes later when she moves a little.

"Lets lay down," Mer says thinking of how safe she always feels in his arms. Normally she wouldn't tell him that thought process of hers, however the fact that they've both had close calls in the last few months pushes her to tell him, "I always feel safe and warm when I lay down in your arms."

She's rewarded with a smile as she stands up so he can stretch out first. Once he's comfortable she lays down in front of him with her back to his chest and he puts his arms around her again kissing the back of her head.

She changes the channel until she finds a random movie playing and sets the remote down. They watch for a while, Derek running his hand up and down her arm carefully. Soon Mer felt her eyes start to feel heavy and droop. She slowly turns so shes on her back then turns again so now she's facing Derek's chest. Derek looks down and smiles as he sees his wife's eyes drooping more.

"Nap time?" He whispers and Mer Nods and snuggles closer, breathing in Derek's scent which relaxes her even more. Derek reaches for the remote and turns the TV off. He then settles down and listens as her breathing slows down and she begins to snore. He lets the sound lull him to sleep and his eyes close and he follows his wife into sleep with a smile on his face.

Alex and Lexie come home and walk into the house trying to be quiet just i case Meredith is sleeping upstairs. They both go to their separate rooms and change. After he finishes, Alex walks downstairs and grabs a beer from the kitchen and walks into the living room from the side door. He almost runs into Lexie who is standing in the doorway.

"Ugh, hey whats the deal?" He loudly whispers.

"Shhhhh," Lexie whispers back and nods her head to the couch. Alex glances up and sees Meredeth and Derek wrapped around each other in peaceful sleep. Mer has her healthy hand on his chest and Derek's arms are wound around her but careful of her wounded side even in sleep.

Alex sighs and looks at Lexie, "Wanna go to Joe's? Give them some time to themselves?" Lexie nods and they leave.

The sleeping couple in blissful ignorance that the two were even there.

Keys are jangle in the door yet again and still the couple continue to sleep unaware of the interruption in their cocoon. This time Jackson and April walk into the house quietly. Alex and Lexie had let them know that if they go home to be quiet and not stay long. Though "letting them know" was a nice way of saying they were threatened. So the two go upstairs and change as well. This time April is the one who is caught staring at the couple which causes Jackson to shake his head.

"You really need to get over whatever thing you have for him" He whispers to her causing her to jump, "Just look at him. Even when they're sleeping you can tell he's completely in love with her and wouldn't even notice you."

"I don't have a thing for him," she argues back and when he gives her a look she adds, "Anymore." Jackson shakes his head again. "I don't, I'm over it. Yes I had a thing for him before.. before.. well before... but now I don't. I know I don't have a chance and that they both love each other a lot. I was just looking because, well I am jealous but not in that way. I'm jealous because I would like to, at some point in my life, have something even close to what they have for each other..." She stammers and rambles. Jackson nods in understanding.

"Me too," he says quietly and they both leave. Still the couple continue to sleep undisturbed.

Meredith wakes up on top of her husband. At some point in their nap they'd both turned enough that Derek was now flat on his back and Mer was on top of his chest. She smiled and lifted her head to look up at his sleeping face. Stubble covered his chin in a way that physically made it uncomfortable to kiss him yet made him look so sexy and kissable at the same time. She felt her body stir at the feel of her husband underneath her. Her smile widened as she decided to wake him up in a way she was sure he would appreciate.

She lowered her head and pressed a kiss to his neck before moving up to kiss his lips. She ran a tongue over his lips and was running her fingers through his hair when she felt him move nder her. She opened her eyes to look into his incredibly blue eyes and felt his lips curve into a smile against hers. She pulled back slightly smiling down at him.

"Hi" she giggled.

"Hi back" He whispered and pressed another kiss to her lips. His hand moved to her hair and ran through it then down her spine. "Did I wake you up?" She asked

"Mmm, Maybe"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You can go back to sleep if you want" She giggled playfully.

"Oh no I think I'm ok with you waking me up that way. In fact if you'd like to wake me up like that more often I would be eternally grateful." His eyes closed as she pressed kisses to his forehead an cheeks and all over his face.

"Are you sure you're ok to... " He said concerned about her ribs and her arm.

"Mmm yes, as long as I stay on top and u go slow," She smiled down at him causing Derek to smile back. "Allright then I think I can handle that," He laughed and they proceeded to help each other get out of their clothing.

Later, they lay in the same position Meredith had woke up in minus the clothing and the blanket which had fallen to the floor. Derek's fingers ran through Mer's hair as her fingers traced patterns on his chest. Derek kissed the top of her head and sighed reaching for the blanket and tossed it over them. It wasn't that he was cold so much as he knew with their household there was no telling when or who would walk into the front door with out a knock. Mer sighed as well and snuggled into Derek's chest and winced a little at the twinge in her ribs, which didn't go unnoticed by her husband.

"You ok?" He asked, worried.

"I'm fine, just a little twinge. I'm glad to be laying here naked with my husband though," She smiled against his chest.

"Mmm I'm happy to be here with my naked wife too," Derek whispered, "We don't get much quiet time for just the two of us, do we?" He said thinking of the many residents that lived with them and then smiled as he thought of the dream home they were building on his, no their, land.

"Not really," Mer replies, "Unless we stay in our room, though then it's not very quiet. And I like that we're able to help out the people that live with us, I do, but still I can't wait until the house is finsihed," Mer spoke Derek's thoughts making him smile.

"I was just thinking that same thing."

"Mmmm, married," Mer giggled.

"Married."

"I think I'm hungry," Mer said randomly two seconds before her stomach rumbled making Derek laugh.

"You think? What do you think you may be hungry for?"

"Are you going to cook or are we going to order in?" She lifted her head to look at him excitedly.

"I could cook for you," Derek said, "It will give us a chance to hang out some more," he smiled down at her.

"Hmm then how bout something with chicken?" She said with an excited look.

"All right then lets put some clothes on and head to the kitchen," he laughed as they both got up and started to get dressed. Derek finished first and smiled as he watched Mer get dressed. When she finished she noticed him staring.

"Were you staring at me?" She laughed. "Maybe," he laughed back, "Yes, is there a problem with me staring at my wife?" He asked innocently. Mer giggled and shook her head and hit him playfully on the arm as they walked into the kitchen together.


	6. Chapter 6

Meredith stood behind Derek as he stood at the stove. She had one arm wrapped around his waist and was leaning her head against his back between his shoulder blades. There was some music playing in the background and the two of them swayed back and forth together in their own dance.

Mer smiled against his back and tightened her arm.

"Mmm this is nice, cooking together," She said softly.

Derek laughed and patted the arm on his stomach.  
"Together huh? I guess since you've attached yourself to my back we could call this cooking together. But yes I agree it's nice to be together in the quiet."

"Are you making a lot?" Mer asked thinking the quiet wouldn't last long.

"Why are you really hungry?"

"No I was just thinking this quiet isn't going to last very long so you should make some for everyone."

"Mer I don't know if we have enough to make for everybody."

"Please try Derek, they were there for me and I'm not used to that. As a thank you to them for me. Please."

Derek sighed and nodded his head then turned in her arms to face her as well and kissed her deeply.  
"Let me see if I can make some other things so they can choose what they want," he said smiling down at her.

She hugged him tightly.  
"Thank you Derek. I love you."

"Mmm," He kissed her again, "I love you too," Then he moved to the fridge and cupboards gathering things to make. Mer watched him amused at how adept he was in the kitchen. She remembered asking him once how he'd become such a good cook. He'd laughed and reminded her he'd grew up in a house with five women and only one other man until his father was killed when he was fifteen. Then he'd been the lone male in a world of females. His mother and sisters had insisted he learn how to cook. And so he had.

Derek caught her watching him as he walked by her to put something on the counter by the stove. He smiled an kissed her cheek on the way by.

"What are you doing over here?" he chuckled.

"Watching my sexy husband cook" Mer giggled.

"Yeah? Are you enjoying the show?" He laughed and winked at her as he stirred something then added seasoning to something else.

"Mmm, I am. Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked and just received a look from him, "What! I could um, I don't know, it's just what you say!" She laughed causing him to laugh too.

"No, I don't need help, thank you though."

"Well what can I do then? Besides stand here and watch my 'Post-it' as Cristina calls you now."

"'Post-it'?" He asked momentarily ignoring the question she'd asked as he handed her a plate with some vegetables and ranch dip for her to munch on while he cooked.

"Mmm, thanks," She said and grabbed a carrot and chomped down. "Ya Cris is now calling you my post-it instead of my husband." Derek laughed.

"Well I guess that's better then McDreamy," he said.

"You didn't like McDreamy?" to which she received a shrug.

"Well it's a lot to live up to," he said seriously, "I mean you even brought it up in our fight about the chief, you said, 'McDreamy is being a McAss.' Plus it's not very masculine is it? Nothing like say, McSteamy?" Derek turned towards the stove since he was having troubles keeping a straight face as he saw Mer's mouth drop.

"First of all," She started defensively, "I didn't give you the name, Cristina did, second of all," now sh smiled, "You do an amazing job at being McDreamy and you don't even try. And you definitely shouldn't worry about your masculinity" She said walking up behind him again to slide her arms around his waist again and kissing his shoulder, "You do an amazing job at proving that to me as well," She grinned as one hand slid lower to probe his masculinity. She heard his breath catch and felt him stir beneath her hand. She stepped back from him before she got him too excited, "Finally, what do you know about McSteamy?" She said cautiously.

"Well I've known Mark was McSteamy for awhile but I always thought Cristina had given him the McName also since she gave me McDreamy. But recently I found out she's not the one that McNicknamed him." Derek glanced at Mer to see she'd gone a little red then turned back to the stove. He smiled as he took a sip of the wine he'd poured for them.

"Uh.. well... no she didn't. I did. But before you jump to conclusions we weren't together and it was a group effort. Cristina and Izzie made suggestions but theirs were rejected until I said McSteamy."

"Mmm," Derek said non-committaly.

"Derek, are you really upset about this?"

Derek just shrugged and stirred the pot both literally and figuratively. Mer sighed, then watched him for a little bit. After a few moments she realized he was messing with her. She'd known him long enough to know when he was upset with her. He got tense and and made quick movements when he was upset with her. Now he was moving at his normal pace and was definitely not tense. Mer cocked her head to the side watching his back. She walked quietly up to him and yet again wrapped her arms around his waist. She got on her tip toes and kissed the back of his neck.

"It's not nice to mislead your wife into thinking your upset, you know?" She whispered against his skin and felt his body shutter slightly.

"Oh really? Maybe we should add that to the post it." Derek chuckled and set his utensils down to in order to once again turned in her arms to face her. He held her face in his hands and slowly leaned down to kiss her lips softly. They both locked their eyes to one another as the kiss deepened. His blue eyes bore into her green as his arms slid around her. Neither of them heard the door open and close and the sound of people whispering. Nor did they hear the sound of keys hitting the table or the footsteps coming towards the kitchen. They continued to kiss, the outside world not penetrating there bubble as their eyes stayed locked on one another. Finally they heard a throat clear and turned to see their four roommates standing just inside the kitchen doorway staring at them in various states of facial expressions. Alex was smirking, Lexie was a little disgusted, Jackson looked like he was trying to look away but couldn't and April seemed to have a mixture of all three. Once they stopped kissing (they were still wrapped around each other) Alex walked fully into the kitchen to the fridge. The other three seemed to be rooted to the spot.

"Derek's making dinner for everyone so if your going in there for food you don't need to," Mer said with her head resting on Derek's chest.

"Food?" Alex said poking his head out of the fridge to look at the couple, "I'm in," he smiled and shrugged grabbing a beer and forgoing the leftover pasta he had originally planned to grab with it.

Jackson and April glanced at each other before also shrugging and grabbing themselves drinks and following Alex who had headed for the living room, presumably to watch TV. Lexie was left still looking a little disgusted. As her sister and her brother-in-law looked at her she shook her entire body in disgust now and grabbed herself a drink. She headed out to the living room as well, stopping at the doorway again and turning to them.

"Please try to do something to warn a person from now on.. It's quite disturbing walking in on your sister and her husband." With that she turned on her heel and followed the rest of the crowd leaving Mer and Der shaking their head before turning back to each other. After a few seconds they burst out laughing while clinging to each other. When they finally stopped laughing Derek eased Mer out of his arms and turned back to the stove to finish up the last few touches on dinner. Finally when dinner was done and the table as set and ready Mer called out to the others. They filed in and took their seats Mer sitting at the head of the table and Derek to her right, Lexie to her left and April next to her. Alex sat across from Mer and Jackson sat next to Derek. Lexie's eyes got big at all the food in front of them.

"Derek you made all of this? I didn't realize you cooked so much." Lexie said causing both Mer and Der to laugh a little.

"I don't generally have the time to cook all that much but yes I can cook all manner of things."

The conversation moved onto other things and they all chatted and laughed through out dinner. Meredith watched with a smile on her face as her family continued on in a normal family dinner. She caught Derek's eye and saw in his smile that he also felt the connection. He reached over and squeezed her hand. She returned the squeezed back and returned to the conversation. Eventually dinner was over and Meredith and Derek stood up to start to clear the table. The others immediately stood up and brushed them off.

"No you guys go relax. It was a tough day for you both. We'll take care of it, don't worry."

Mer and Der looked at each other then shrugged. They weren't about to turn down more time for themselves.

"Thanks guys, we appreciate it." Derek said as he put an arm around Mer's shoulders and led her towards the living room. They say down next to each other on the couch. Much like they had when they first came home that day. Derek pulled Mer close to him and rested his chin on her head. They sat like that in silence for awhile just soaking in the peace and quiet listening to their surroundings which included the noises from their roommates in the kitchen. Meredith took a deep breath and looked up at Derek.

"This has been one of the toughest days as well as one of the most relaxing days I've had in quite a long time," Mer murmurred.

"Mmm... One of the scariest days for me. And I agree on the relaxing part. Its been great having time for just us,"

Mer nodded and snuggled closer to him. Again they lapsed into a peaceful silence and for the second time that day they fell asleep in each others arms. The others walked into the living room after finally finishing cleaning up the kitchen. April was the first to walk in and noticing the couple sleeping she stopped abruptly. Alex was able to stop before running into her but then Lexie ran into him and Jackson into her. This caused Alex to run into April who stumbled and grabbed a nearby table to try to steady herself. This caused her to knock over a picture on the table which in turn woke up the couple sleeping on the couch with a start. They both quickly turned their heads towards the noise to see 4 guilty looking people.

"We're sorry," April whispered, "you can go back to sleep."

"No you can't," Alex said, "There's a game on I wanna watch." Lexie hit him on the arm, "Oww! What was that for!"

"You being an ass, they've had a long day they can sleep if they want to."

"They already slept today. I remember since I had to abandon ship to give them 'privacy'" he used air quotes around the last word.

"You didn't mind threatening us to give them 'privacy'" Jackson huffed and mimicked his air quotes.

"Well ya.. I..."

"Stop it," Mer admonished, "We'll head up to our bedroom, you don't need to worry about our 'privacy,'" Mer laughed as she too used air quotes.

Lexie laughed and walked around the others towards the couch and sat down next to Derek as he stood up and helped Mer to her feet. They walked to the stairs and Mer stopped at the stairs and turned to watch Jackson shove Alex out of the way and sat down next to Lexie. Once they had all sat down and were laughing at each other and fighting over what they were going to watch Mer turned to walk up the stairs and almost ran into Derek who was standing there watching her watch them with a smile on his face. She didn't need to ask what he was smiling about. She knew he was happy about her makeshift family just as she was. They walked upstairs arm in arm and got into bed wrapping themselves around each other before falling asleep for the third time that day.

They both had smiles on their faces. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! What did everyone think of the premiere? I liked it for the most part. Though I don't like that Derek has to be such an ass when he's pissed but it was good to see some glimpses of hope.**

**I've had a crazy crazy life that past few months and am very sorry for taking soooooo long to update this story. I hope everyone enjoys this update. I have another chapter written already that I just need to type up and am in the middle of writing chapter 9. Let me know what you all think :) Enjoy!**

The next day Mer woke up to an empty bed. She slid a hand over to where her husband was supposed to be. She couldn't feel the heat from his body which let her know he hadn't left recently. SHe yawned and stretched before rubbing her eyes. She laid there for a moment listening to the quiet of the house trying to see if could pinpoint Derek's location. She heard a murmur from downstairs. Since she knew the others had all gone to work by now she threw off the covers wearing just her underwear and a tank top. She stretched again as she sat up and made her way downstairs. She reached his voice as she reached the bottom step. Sounded like he was in the kitchen. Since she didn't hear a response during his pauses she figured he was on the phone. THen she heard the sizzle of something cooking just before she smelled bacon. she smiled as she made her way to the kitchen where she sees his back as he stood at the stove cradling his cell against his shoulder and giving brief responses to whoever was on the line. From what she could tell he was giving a consult over the phone.

Mer smiled as she moved over to him quietly. She watched the muscles in his back move as he flipped bacon. She was amused that he was only wearing his pj bottoms. He generally wore a T-shirt as well but she definitely wasn't complaining about his bare back. She walked up to him and slid her hands up his back to his shoulders which caused him to jump a little before she slid her arms around him in a hug before he turned to face her.

What she didn't see was the instant grin that came over his face after the initial shock. He was consulting on a possibly brain dead grandfather who'd been in a sever car accident/ Mer hadn't seen the concern on his face that so quickly changed to joy at her mere touch. WHen he felt her arms go around his shoulders he set the fork down and reached up to place his hand over hers and squeezed before turning in her arms/ He felt a sense of de ja vu from the day before in the kitchen and his smile grew even as the Dr on the phone agreed with his prognosis of brain dead. He smiled down at her then leaned in to give her a soft kiss. The kiss quickly deepened and his hear sped up. The only thing that pulled him away was the Dr on the phone saying his name loudly as if he had said it more then once. Derek pulled back still smiling.

"I'm sorry what?" he said still looking Mer in the eyes. Her arms were now around his neck and one hand was buried in his hair.

He nodded while listening to the voice on the phone.

"Dr. Nelson" He tried but was talked over, "Dr Nelson" he said a bit louder. Still he was talked over, "Dr. Nelson!" Now he tried authoritative which seemed to work.

"You and I both know the patient isn't going to regain any brain activity. There was no need for you to contact me at home while I'm on leave. Hell even my residents would know the diagnosis," Derek wiggled his eyebrows a little at Mer indicating he meant her, "Now I'd like to get back to taking care of my wife. Please only call for an emergency that you truly are unsure of."

Without waiting for a response he closed his phone and pocketed it before pulling Mer in and kissing her briefly this time before resting his chin on her head and hugging her.

"Mmm, good morning," he said softly.

"Good morning, was that Shadow Shepherd?"

"Meredith," he let out an exaggerated sigh, "We've been over this his name is Dr. Nelson."

Mer gave him a look clearly stating everyone including Dr. Nelson was aware of the huge gap of ability between the two surgeons. Derek just sighed deciding to let the argument go… again.

"Yes it was him. He needed a consult," Derek winced knowing the statement validated the 'look' Mer had given him. He leaned in and kissed her again before jumping as some bacon grease hit his back. He turned around again and resumed cooking.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked concerned. He'd woken up a couple times to her shifting uncomfortably in the bed. Mer just shrugged and lifted her cast.

"This gets in the way," She moved to jump on to the counter next to him and snagged a piece of already cooked bacon that was piled on a plate.

"I'm sorry, I wish there was something I could do for you to help you." he said giving her his dreamy look that had his lips just barely curving into a smile as he leaned against the counter next to her. She smiled and reached up brushing a stray lock of hair off his forehead.

"You being in bed helped. I just snuggled up with you and it took my mind off of it so I got back to sleep quickly."

"Well if that helps you sleep you won't have to worry because I will be by your side every night" he smiled over at her and she smiled back.

"What if you have to be at the hospital?"

"Well either I'll come home or you'll come to the hospital. Apparently we're getting pretty good at sleeping on the couch together comfortably. We could sleep on the couch in my office or in an on-call room," He wiggled his eyebrows again with the on-call room suggestion. Mer giggled and hopped off the counter to get herself a glass of juice. She just winked at him as she walked to the cupboard and got a glass then to the fridge to grab the juice. She ran a hand over his back as she walked by him again then jumped back onto the counter to watch him cook. He seemed to be almost done since he put the bread in the toaster.

"So what should we do today?" She asked him and snagged another piece of bacon.

"I don't know. What would you like to do?"

"Maybe just watch movies all day?"

"Sounds good to me. Why don't you go set up the living room and I'll bring you breakfast," Mer smiled and leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Such a good husband." She giggled and slid off the counter with her juice and sauntered out of the kitchen leaving him to watch her with a grin on his face.

A few hours later Lexie came rushing into the house calling out her brother-in-law's name, running right by the couch that Meredith and Derek were laying on.

"Derek!" Lexie ran up the stairs to check their room first before she heard Derek respond

"Lexie! We're down here!" He laughed gently against Mer's hair but wondered what the rush was.

They heard her run back down the stairs then she rushed to stand in front of the couch.

"Derek! You need to come to the hospital right now."

"Lexie, I'm on leave. They have other neuro guys they don't need me. I need to be here with my wife, your sister, who needs me."

"Derek, I'm fine," Mer said looking back at him, "If I was going to have any problems they would've shown already.

"Mer I'm staying until you're completely out of the clear."

"Derek, you have to come. The children of Shadow Shepherd…"

"Dr. Nelson!" Derek snapped. He'd let his wife get away with it but no one else. Lexie looked a little guilty and wasn't about to talk back to her boss even if he was her brother in law.

"Sorry- Dr. Nelson's patients kids' are furious."

"Nelson can handle family that's upset because of a grim prognosis. He doesn't need me to do any hand holding. And really if they want to talk to his superior get the chief to take care of it." Derek said exasperated.

"That's not it Derek, He operated."

"What!" Derek sat up as quickly as he could without jostling Mer too much.

"He didn't tell them the prognosis. He just went in and cut. The guy died on the table and now the kids are blaming it on him. On top of that there's a little boy that came in with some rare brain condition I've never heard of or read of and the chief won't let Nelson go near it. The parents are asking for you. They came from the east coast because they heard about how good you are. They heard about Issac's tumor and it's success. They won't let anyone near their kid except you."

Derek ran his hands trough his hair and groaned a little. The first thing he could pass off for the Chief to deal with but he couldn't pass off a child. He looked at Mer.

"Go Derek. I'll be fine. The little boy needs you more than I do right now." Derek sighed and leaned in and kissed her.

"Ok but only if there's someone here with you constantly while I'm not."

"The chief already set up a schedule for people to come over. He figured that was the only way he'd get you to come back to the hospital." Lexie said quickly causing Derek to sigh again and stand up.

"All right. I'll go shower and change and then head to the hospital. I take it you're the first person to stay?"

"Yeah. It goes through our house members then Bailey, Callie, Arizona.."

"Wait!" Mer said, "I don't need to take people out of work just to watch me. I don't need a baby sitter."

"They will be here only when they aren't scheduled at work. I'm the only one that is being pulled out of work because they need Derek right now."

Mer glared at Derek without saying anything. Derek shrugged and gave her "their" look. Mer rolled her eyes and sighed. This caused Derek to smile and lean down to kiss her again.

"I'll be home every night no matter what." He whispered remembering she had trouble sleeping without him.

Lexie was staring at them strangely and Mer noticed.

"What?"

"You two. You're amazing." They looked at each other, both confused, then back at Lexie.

"What are you talking about?" Mer said.

"You guys just had an argument and resolved it without any words at all. You're just… amazing with how in sync you are. You are a great example of how marriage is supposed to work even if you only have a post-it marriage"

Derek grinned and Mer looked a little uncomfortable and rolled her eyes.

"Thank you Lexie" Derek said and hugged her then headed upstairs.

Mer glared at Lexie.

"You better not act like I'm an invalid. The only reason I'm going with this is because I want him to feel ok with going to the hospital and not worrying about me. So no actual baby sitting. Just hanging out. Got it?

"Ok." Lexie said smiling and looking forward to hanging out with her sister.


End file.
